The surgery of organ transplantation has taken off in the past fifty years. However, the ability to apply these gains to the nervous system has lagged behind due to the limitations of nerve regeneration. As told in this book, during this time, Robert White, MD/PhD, sought to pioneer head transplantation onto a new body. He was successful in transplanting a monkey’s head onto another’s body. However, he retired and died before his dream could come true.
Schillance’s work seeks to tell his story and the story of this field. The tale is gripping, the character personalities are strong, and the stakes are high. This story is not well-known to the public as journalistically, it has mostly been covered in sensationalist news sources. Therefore, Schillance’s informative tale should reach interested ears.
Is White a humble genius or merely a new Dr. Butcher and Dr. Frankenstein? That gripping question lies behind the historical unfolding of this work’s plot. The reader is left to make up her/his own mind. After finishing this work, I find elements of both stereotypes are true. Animals are harmed to make science advance, but noble scientific aims could save human lives. As White asks, would society rather a surgeon practice on monkeys or a human child?
These relevant and pertinent questions bring us to today as the field has continued in White’s absence. Head transplantation is variously proposed still. A central limitation to White’s work was the inability to bring a paralyzed spinal cord to life. (Thus, the patient would always remain a paralytic.) However, in recent years, nerve regeneration technology has shown promise; additionally, some have developed technology that bypasses the spinal cord by sending signals directly from the brain to local nerve endings. Schillance accurately and excitedly exposits these developments.
As part of the history of medicine, this work is especially relevant to historians and healthcare professionals, but it also has the chance to reach a wider general audience. Again, this story is not well-known but should be. It may enter more into society’s conversations about bioethics in coming years. Schillance casts the facts and situation well, without bias or agenda. Are we ready for the reality of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? Ready or not, it may come.
Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey’s Head, the Pope’s Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul
By Brandy Schillance
Copyright (c) 2021
Simon & Schuster
Page Count: 320
Genre: History of Medicine
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